28 MEMOIR OP LAMARCK. 



the king's cabinet. Although the emolument aris- 

 ing from this office was inconsiderable, and the 

 tenure of it uncertain and invidious, for the National 

 Assembly were called upon to suppress it as un- 

 necessary, he continued to hold it for several years, 

 till a change occurred which opened new prospects 

 and entailed new duties. This happened in 1793, 

 when the establishment known by the name of the 

 king's garden and cabinet were remodelled and dis- 

 tinguished by the title of Museum of Natural 

 History. The professors of the suppressed institu- 

 tion were appointed to superintend such departments 

 taught in the new, as most nearly corresponded to 

 their previous occupations; and as Lamarck was 

 the last appointed, he was obliged to take charge of 

 that branch unappropriated by the others, which 

 happened to be the two extensive classes of the 

 animal kingdom, named Insecta and Vermes by 

 Linnaeus. 



A new direction was thus given to his studies, 

 for zoology as a science had hitherto occupied but 

 little of his regard. Indeed, the only knowledge of 

 this subject which he possessed, directly available 

 in his new station, seems to have been limited to 

 Testaceous Mollusca, which attracted his attention 

 at a pretty early period. But the occasion was 

 just such a one as was best calculated to excite 

 the natural ardour and energy of his character. He 

 entered upon this new field of inquiry with the 

 utmost eagerness, and cultivated it with so much 

 skill and facility, that he was soon in a condition 



